Kat Cole

Senior Program Manager, Military Service Initiative

George W. Bush Institute

Kat Cole is a proud US Air Force Veteran, with over 15 years of experience in the mental health field; providing clinical, case management, outreach and advocacy support to individual adults, adolescents, couples and families with acute and/or chronic mental health conditions. Kat has provided the above services in acute inpatient, partial hospitalization and outpatient settings. She has worked with active duty service members, National Guard, Veterans and their families struggling with mental health conditions.

She was an integral part of the Cohen Veterans Network and Family Endeavors, Inc. leadership team, worked tirelessly to expand the organization’s clinical capacity and has been crucial in the implementation of three Cohen Military Family Clinics in San Antonio, El Paso and Killeen, TX from 2016-2018.

Cole has managed nationally dispersed teams in support of a multi-state US Army Family Program that focused on community capacity building. She also managed the national team that supported the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Family Readiness Program. During her time with the Texas National Guard, she was a part of the pilot program that the Texas National Guard’s Office of the State Army Surgeon instituted to fill in the gaps in behavioral health services to National Guard personnel. She coordinated closely with Medical Readiness, Behavioral Health Officers and Command in this capacity to ensure the needs were met and mission readiness was clearly communicated. Colealso worked at Offutt AFB Mental Health Clinic, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment, and Family Advocacy Program as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Nebraska- Omaha, and her Master’s degree in Social Work at the University of Texas- San Antonio. Kat is currently pursuing a MBA degree at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio.